Reading sessions involving electronic books, or eBooks, have grown rapidly in popularity, and the electronic nature of the eBook experience presents new opportunities and challenges as the frontier of eBook technology advances. Many of the new opportunities and challenges pertain to enhancing the eBook reading environment.
An eBook is an electronic version of a traditional print book that can be read by using an electronic reader, or e-reader device. E-reader functionality may be provided on a dedicated e-reader device such as an Amazon.com Kindle™, or provided as an additional function of a communication device, such as a mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, personal computer, or the like. Any device that provides e-reader functionality is rendered an e-reader device.
The eBook content is downloaded to the e-reader device and then presented to a user, generally on a page by page basis. E-reader devices provide user interfaces that are used to virtually turn pages and provide input for searching or requesting particular eBook content. Once a page is read, the user can instruct the e-reader device to present the next page and so on and so forth. In response to a search query, content or pages responsive to the query are presented. Moreover, an e-reader device typically has wireless connectivity for downloading content and conducting other Web-based tasks such as browsing the Internet and receiving email.
During an e-reader session, a user reading an eBook may become so captivated by the content of the eBook that they will not want to be interrupted until after they have completed a chapter or otherwise come to a desirable stopping point. For this reason, many eBook and traditional book readers will seek out areas of quiet privacy to begin their reading session. However, modern society has become accustomed to generating a great number of interruptions via modern communication activities such as, but not limited to, voice telephone, text messaging, multimedia transmissions, and email. As a result, a reader will very likely be interrupted several times during a reading session, making the reading session a frustrating experience. Thus, there is a need for a technique for controlling communications during an e-reader session, such that unwanted interruptions due to modern communication activities are controlled, if not altogether eliminated.
Additionally, great benefits could be realized for the eBook reading community if modern messaging capabilities could be exploited to share data collected from e-reader sessions. For example, members of a book club might want to share information concerning each individual's progress through a particular eBook. Moreover, the book club's members might also want to share information such as the title, author, and other general information pertaining to a particular eBook that the members are reading.
In yet another example, an eBook distributor might offer incentives to a large number of its eBook readers such that the eBook readers will want to cooperate with the eBook distributor to share data collected during e-reader sessions. Thus, there is also a need for a technique to manage an e-reader session, such that information gathered during e-reader sessions can be shared with entities, such as book distributors or other individuals.